Bilingual Spanish Preferred

ABOUT US:

Illinois Action for Children (“IAFC”), a local, state, and national leader in the early childhood care and education sector for over 50 years. IAFC programs, services, and advocacy improve learning and life outcomes for children and families, including reducing the effects of poverty. IAFC works to ensure that every child in Illinois – particularly those in need – have access to the necessary resources to succeed in school and in life.

Along with our mission, IAFC is committed to building and maintaining a diverse, equitable, inclusive, and anti-racist culture. We are dedicated to this pledge through our hiring practices and our focus on creating a culture and environment where diverse perspectives, ideas, and identities are valued and integrated into our way of working and servicing our staff and clients. IAFC staff represent a wide diversity of racial, socio-economic, gender, religious, and national identities. We welcome all applicants who share our mission and vision to join us in our essential work.

SUMMARY:

Under the direction of the Strengthening Connections Manager, the Strengthening Connections Social Worker will support recruit and support families engaged in the Strengthening Connections program.

About Strengthening Connections

Illinois Action for Children (IAFC) is uniquely prepared to address the unique needs of Black and Latinx children and their jailed and incarcerated parents. Through February 2025, IAFC will engage families and partners in a human-centered design (HCD) process—which engages those participating in the program in problem-solving—to develop and test solutions for this type of family separation. IAFC will design the pilot program to strengthen connections between children and their families impacted by the carceral system, an approach shown to be mutually beneficial for children and parents. IAFC will also strengthen connections to the resources they need to build the resilience to thrive regardless of their circumstances.

The Strengthening Connections Social Worker will work with an assigned case load of families to provide a full range of services, including parent support and education, enrollment/eligibility for early learning programs, health and social services, and other case management functions. Their purpose is to maintain and strengthen family units of children impacted by the incarceration of a parent. This program works with family strengths, monitors the family dynamics, provides linkages to community resources, assists with housing or school issues, and provides information regarding child development and age-appropriate behavior and discipline as well as general case management services. With a solitary emphasis on child safety and strengthening the family and their connection to community.

This position will be expected to promote and adhere to the workplace core capabilities as follows: accountability, customer focus, continuous quality improvement, communication, competent people and clear priorities. All work to be completed with minimum supervision and in accordance with organizational standards.

ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES include but are not limited to the following. The organization reserves the right to add to, delete, change or modify the essential duties and responsibilities at any time.

1. Builds respectful, culturally responsive, and trusting relationships with families.
2. Manage case of program participants and inputs data from written records, participant goals that enhance participant and family well-being.
3. Initiates social service referrals and follow-up services for families.
4. Establishes and maintains an efficient and effective record-keeping system.
5. Knowledgeable of community resources and possesses the skills to link families with appropriate agencies and services.
6. Works closely with schools, local social service agencies, health and recreation agencies as necessary to develop services plans for families.
7. Monitors community service activities and identifies potential partnerships
8. Assists in identifying counseling needs for families as needed
9. Provides minor crisis intervention services as needed and may refer families to a variety of related community agencies and services.
10. Assists in emergency relocation of families threatened with imminent harm or violence.
11. Assists in resolving conflicts and/or mediating situations involving families
12. Acts as a liaison between family’s service providers/schools to facilitate access to services.
13. Provides information on available services for participants’ family members.
14. Collaborates with hospitals, clinics and community service providers to engage families in community events and/or services.
15. Engages in emergency home visits with program participants and families in events of consecutive non-communications.
16. Maintain confidentiality of client’s Personally Identifiable Information (PII)
17. Performs other duties as assigned and collaborates with other critical agency functions to ensure the success of IAFC projects.
18. Execute our workplace core capabilities as follows: accountability, customer focus, continuous quality improvement (CQI), communication, competent people and clear priorities.

EDUCATION and/or EXPERIENCE:

• Bachelor’s degree in social work, human services, early childhood education or related field is required. A Master’s degree in social work or a related field is strongly preferred.
• Social work licensure (LSW, LPC, LCPC, LCSW) required.
• At least 1 to 2 years of experience in early education and/or social services
• Experience working with priority populations as defined by the Illinois Early Learning Council, preferably Children who are Impacted by Parental Involvement in the Criminal Justice System. Excellent written and oral communication skills
• Ability to initiate, build, and manage cohesive partnerships and professional relationships both internally and externally.
• Accessibility to reliable personal transportation with insurance, valid driver’s license, and a safe driving record.

OTHER SKILLS AND ABILITIES:

• Organization & Project Management – Keeps track of upcoming, ongoing, and prior work products. Quickly adjust to shifting priorities and deadlines and ability to juggle multiple and varied projects simultaneously. Develops realistic action plans and utilizes team effectively to achieve department goals.
• Data Analysis & Analytical Thinking - Ability to analyze statistics, identify trends, and make balanced, objective recommendations in a proactive manner to achieve maximum results.
• Collaboration – Initiates, builds, and manages cohesive partnerships and professional relationships both internally and externally
• Communication with Stakeholders – Ability to build strong relationships with key stakeholders. Demonstrates intercultural competence and proven effectiveness in working with people from diverse backgrounds. Communicates at a high level in both written and verbal form with an impeccable detail-orientation and a focus on customer service and relationships. Has a strong regard for confidentiality and employs sound reasoning.
• Enhanced knowledge of the community and individuals we serve.
• Demonstrated knowledge of community service organizations and community-based research.
• Skilled in case management and client intakes.
• Ability to deal positively and effectively with the general public and other staff and individual agencies or persons.

Benefits of Working at IAFC:

• Working with passionate team members that are driven by our Mission: Illinois Action for Children is a catalyst for organizing, developing and supporting strong families and powerful communities where children matter most.
• We strive to foster and implement a culture of diversity, equity, and inclusion across our organization. We know it is not only critical to the success of diversity initiatives - but instrumental in creating an unbiased and inclusive workplace! It not only relates to the diverse clients we serve but also creates a positive employee experience.
• We offer an extensive benefits package that adds value to your total compensation. Our benefits include:

• Health, dental and vision insurance plans with company contribution of 95% for single coverage
• 401k with company match
• Generous PTO – first year-23 days, the second year-28 days, the third year and on - 35 days
• 11 Paid Holidays and 1 Floating Holiday
• Tuition Reimbursement
• Flexible Spending Account
• STD & LTD insurance
• Company paid Life Insurance

Location: Chicago - Chatham

Illinois Action for Children is EEO/M/F/V/D employer

While we desire for this job posting to be comprehensive, all aspects of the position may be amended at any time at the discretion of IAFC including job duties, work location and/or work schedule.

As established by the Illinois Action for Children Board of Directors, all employees are required to receive a vaccination against COVID-19, unless a medical or religious reasonable accommodation is approved. If offered a job, the candidate must be able to prove that they have been vaccinated with one of the CDC-authorized vaccines, including either Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna, or Johnson & Johnson / Janssen or request and be granted an accommodation before their start date.